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June 16, 2005
No one's exempt from the down-and-dirty
Gave an energetic one-day seminar (Mastering Workflow) with a group of Managing Directors of a global investment bank in London today. Seems there's great press for our stuff in the UK these days, so they had positive anticipation to start with, which is always nice. Sophisticated folks, dealing with typical issues, but one specific was a real hoot for us all:
One guy had a "problem" he realized he needed to morph into a "project." He and his wife had adopted a goose egg and hatched it with a heat lamp. It grew up as part of the family, joining them at the pool, etc. Problem: it craps everywhere. So, what's the project? "Handle goose issue." What's the next action? He hadn't figured that out before we ended, but he was considering options, like "Buy hatchet."
Ain't it great that we all have the same kinds of nitty-gritty that can get in the way?
Managing Directors today grappling with crap...
Posted by David at June 16, 2005 10:35 AM
Comments
David,
Thanks for posting so often. I attended your seminar in Miami and find your material to be profoundly effective in all of life. I check your blog daily as it allows me to follow the master from an apprentice perspective in your day to day activities. Kind of a virtual hangin with David Allen everyday.
Posted by: Lance at June 16, 2005 02:23 PM
David,
If you tell your customers to fold down a corner of their nametag, they will stand up better.
Posted by: Justin L. Joffrion at June 16, 2005 05:42 PM
Enjoy London, David. There's a sizable colony of GTD-ers here, so you're definitely among friends in the greatest city in the world.
Posted by: James Hamilton at June 17, 2005 07:32 AM
You don't need a hatchet to despatch a goose. Just pick it up by the body and point its head toward the ground. It will obligingly stretch out its neck. Get someone to place a broomhandle over the neck, put a foot on the broomhandle either side of the goose so the curve of its neck is pinned to the ground by the broomhandle. Pull the goose's body sharply backwards. This will break its neck. In fact probably the first time you do it you'll pull the head off. If you do it quickly and decisively the goose won't feel a thing, presumably just wonder about your peculiar behaviour for a few seconds then... "Oh, is this heaven?"
My oh my, the pieces of useless information I've collected over the years!
Posted by: Tess at June 18, 2005 01:15 AM
How about NOT killing the goose and getting a bird diaper for it instead (http://www.birddiaper.com/)? I'm sympathetic to the problem of bird crap everywhere, but I think it's callous to kill a pet because it's become inconvenient. The Humane Society estimates that 6-8 million cats and dogs enter shelters each year and 3-4 million are euthanized by shelters each year (http://www.hsus.org/). Do we really need to treat the goose like another throwaway pet? What kind of values does the goose owner want to pass on to his children (if he has them)? That if an animal is bothersome, a hatchet is a reasonable option? I really hope the goose owner came up with another solution.
Posted by: Yoshi at June 22, 2005 06:55 PM
